SMALL CAP MOVERS: Opportunity knocks in oil and minerals sectors as AIM rises

The small cap market continued to offer opportunities for stock pickers this week as a number of high profile projects took shape, particularly in the oil and gas sector.

Standing at 3,309 this morning, the FTSE AIM 100 was up around 3.5 per cent over the past week.

'Albeit the market has remained in a cautious outlook, we have seen some positive news flow on the small cap market,' said Atif Latif, director of trading at Guardian Stockbrokers. 'Volumes again have started to increase as investor appetite returns.'

Trailblazing: Irish explorer Providence Resources confirmed the Barryroe oil field, in the Celtic Sea off the Cork coast, as world class.

Trailblazing Irish explorer Providence Resources (up 0.4 per cent today at 642p) confirmed the Barryroe oil field, in the Celtic Sea off the Cork coast, as world class, with a new resource estimate putting recoverable resources at 346million barrels, which could support production in the order of 100,000 barrels of oil per day.

It has put the spotlight on Ireland's offshore potential, and comes just weeks before ExxonMobil starts drilling on the much larger Dunquin well, which could hold more than three times as much.

Not long after, on Wednesday, fellow Irish oil firm Fastnet (unchanged today at 25p) revealed the findings of an assessment of one of its own Celtic Sea prospect. The independent review projected the Shanagarry prospect as a 'Barryroe lookalike', and estimated that it could host 1.29bn barrels of oil as well as 1.34tn cubic feet of gas.

Both Irish firms are in the market for partners to help take their respective projects forward, and this week Providence chief Tony O'Reilly said that Ireland’s nascent oil industry offers ideal opportunities for oil firms that have already established operations in the North Sea & Norway.

There are of course many significant new opportunities left in the North Sea, as Xcite Energy (up 3 per cent today at 116.25p) reminded investors this week as it confirmed the Bentley heavy oil field as one of the largest development projects in the UK.

Bentley, which is located to the east of Shetland in the North Sea, is now estimated to contain between 198mln and 312mln barrels of oil reserves (1P to 3P). And the field’s potentially in-place oil is now estimated in excess of 900mln barrels. The latest third-party assessment values the project between US$1.5bn and US$2.8bn, and supports estimated peak output of 45,000 barrels of oil per day in the first phase of production.

Shares in Oilex (down 4 per cent today 5.38p) advanced nearly 50 per cent as a gas sales deal was struck for production from the Cambay field in India.

The two year supply deal demonstrates the excellent gas commercialisation opportunities in India, Oilex said. First gas from Cambay is expected to come within two months once the project has been approved by the government authorities.

In the mining sector Atlantic Coal (unchanged today at 0.22p) was a top performer rising over 35 per cent on the news that production at the Stockton colliery has risen by two-thirds in the three months to the end of March.

The drilling intersected massive sulphide mineralisation at the Scorpion prospect, which encompasses the B4-7 and B4-8 deposits. And the findings strongly support the company's belief case that the deposit is larger, and could host more valuable resources.

Another big climber was Rare Earths Minerals (unchanged today 0.06p), which jumped ahead as surface samples revealed the possibility of a 'large scale, world class lithium deposit' at its El Sauz concession in Mexico. David Lenigas, chairman, said the results justified moving the project forward to the drilling stage, with work expected to get under way in the next three weeks.

Meanwhile another rare earth firm Tantalus (trading at €17.80), a German firm with a following in London, revealed a new resource estimate for the TRE project in Madagascar which has confirmed its massive scale. The review defined a 435mln tonne resource at 0.08 per cent total rare earth oxides (TREO), which equates to 348,000 tonnes of contained TREO. This triples the size of the resource, which was last assessed in 2011.

Elsewhere, public transport firm Optare (up 12 per cent today at 0.38p) advanced as Nottingham City Council placed a £4mln order for 20 new electric buses – which is the company’s biggest UK order for electric vehicles.

Speymill (down 11 per cent today at 0.6p) was among the week’s bigger fallers after it revealed that losses in its contracts unit, which is in administration, have doubled and it will write off £3.7mln relating to property in Germany.

North Sea explorer Trapoil (down 20 per cent today at 10.88p) announced that there will be no further testing on the Scotney well after no significant hydrocarbons were encountered in the primary target.

Meanwhile European oil and gas firm Ascent Resources (down 30 per cent today 0.73p) as trading sharply lower following dilution from its fund raising, and said it would continue to seek a buyer for its assets.